Puberty in Crioula Lageana breed heifers

DOI: 10.52945/rac.v23i1.717
Published 2010-04-28

Authors

  • Karyna Giacomini
    Prefeitura Municipal de Pouso Redondo
  • Vera Maria Villamil Martins
    CAV / Udesc
  • Edison Martins
    Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Crioula Lageana (ABCCL)
  • Cristina Perito Cardoso
    FMVZ/Unesp
    ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9966-7777
  • Guenter Kluge
    CAV / Udesc
  • Suenon Rosa Lisboa
    CAV / Udesc

Abstract

Age of puberty was evaluated in heifers (Crioula Lageana Breed) submitted to two post-weaning feeding systems, in the Santa Catarina Plateaus, Brazil. This study was composed of: Treatment I, in which nine animals were maintained in cultivated pasture during the winter, and Treatment II, in which nine animals were maintained in natural pastures during the whole period of the experiment. In both treatments, animals received mineral supplementation. Daily observations of estrus behavior were made. All animals were submitted to rectal palpation and ultrasound exam; blood samples were taken weekly and all the animals were weighed monthly. Puberty was characterized by the first estrus, with or without oestrus behavior, confirmed by the formation of the corpus luteum and plasmatic concentrations of progesterone by radioimmunoassay (RIA) over 1ng/ml, in two consecutive samples.
Using cultivated pastures for Crioula Lageana heifers after weaning, in the winter, advanced their age of puberty. The results showed that 15-month-old animals weighing approximately 300kg are ready for reproduction.

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Keywords

  • Reproduction
  • bovine
  • progesterone